Knight girls limit PC scorers

Coach Clay Carlton and the Lourdes girls’ basketball team knew what had to be done in order to insure success in their Tuesday home match up with Pawnee City.

Kirt Manion/ Nebraska City News-Press

Coach Clay Carlton and the Lourdes girls’ basketball team knew what had to be done in order to insure success in their Tuesday home match up with Pawnee City.The Knights had to find a way to slow down 6’1” post force Jenna Habegger and a potent scoring threat in guard Sierra Friedly.And the Knights were up to the challenge.Lourdes held Friedly scoreless through three quarters.Habegger got off to a great start with an eight point first quarter, but was held to just nine points for the remaining three quarters.The Knights shut out Pawnee City in the second quarter and held a 13-12 lead at half.A 12-5 third quarter win gave the Knights the momentum they needed to close out a 33-25 win.Kim Osovski had 11 points, while Sam Heng had six. Other scorers were Madeline DuBois, five; Leah DeFreece, five; Kayla Jelken, four; and Sarah Warga, two.Scoring aside, the Knights’ win was definitely a credit to the team’s defensive effort and rebounding position, which kept Habegger from being a major factor on the boards.“We were physical,” said Coach Carlton. “The girls are really tough. That was absolutely huge.”In addition to limiting Habegger, Coach Carlton said the work against Friedly was major as well.“Nothing was wide open,” Carlton said of Friedly’s scoring chances. “We found her in our zone and shut her down.”Turning to the Knights’ offense, Coach Carlton said his team must continue to work on scoring the ball, taking care of the ball and making good passes.But he also noted that the Knights came through offensively when they had to have points.“There were times we needed to score and we did,” Carlton said. “They really stepped up to the challenge when they needed to.”